Steel pole for a rectangular dome-shaped tent

ABSTRACT

A steel pole for a rectangular dome-shaped tent is disclosed wherein a plurality of unit rods  1  are made of an elastic steel pipe with a certain thickness. One end portion of each of the unit rods is press-formed into an insert part  1   a  for being inserted into an insert hollow  1   b  of another unit rod  1,  the insert part having a proper length and a proper diameter. The unit rods consist of straight rods  1 A and bent rods  1 B, the bent rod  1 B being bent at a certain angle to support a corner portion between the tent ceiling and the tent wall. Each steel pole consists of a plurality of the unit rods  1  in the form of a straight rod  1 A or a bent rod  1 B, and the rods  1  are arranged in a number and in an order suitable to pitch a dome-shaped tent. A flexible and elastic string s passes through the unit rods thus arranged for forming an arched pole. Two arched poles A and B are installed on the ground, the top portion of the arched poles crossing each other for pitching a rectangular dome-shaped tent  2.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to steel poles for a rectangulardome-shaped tent.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The unit rods of the conventional tent used in mountains and openfields are pipes of a reinforced plastic or aluminum.

[0003] As shown in FIG. 5, in a conventional tent, the connecting partof the rods is constituted as follows. That is, a separate insert memberI is inserted into the hollow h of a pipe rod R in such a manner thatthe insert member I protrudes to the outside. Then the protruded portionof the insert member I is coupled to another pipe rod R, therebycoupling the two pipe rods. In this manner, the tent poles areassembled.

[0004] In these conventional tent poles which are made of a reinforcedplastic or aluminum, the installation of the tent itself can be carriedout with no problem, but the tent installed in this way presentsproblems as a tent.

[0005] That is, the tent poles which are made of reinforced plastic aretoo heavy, and their manufacturing cost is very high, although they arecomparatively stronger than aluminum poles in resistance to distortion.

[0006] However, the insert member as the connecting part is weak, andtherefore, if the pole is deflected more than the deflection limit dueto carelessness, force is concentrated on the thin insert member, withthe result that the insert member is broken.

[0007] Or if a strong wind blows, the tent oscillates due to the forcesof the wind, and the load is concentrated on the thin insert member,with the result that the insert member is broken.

[0008] If any of the insert members of the poles is broken, then theentire pole frame of the tent is made useless, and therefore, the entirepole frame has to be replaced with a new one.

[0009] Meanwhile, the aluminum poles are light in specific gravity, andtherefore, they are preferred by many people, for they are easy tocarry. However, the material for the aluminum poles are weak, thusmaking their strength for supporting the tent is weak, and therefore, ifa wild wind blows, the aluminum poles may be bent or broken, with theresult that the tent collapses.

[0010] Further, the aluminum poles are liable to be deformed, andtherefore, after the repetitive use of the aluminum poles, theassembling of the poles becomes difficult. Or the connecting partsbecome loose, and therefore, the connecting parts are apt to come apart.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The present invention is intended to overcome the above-describeddisadvantages of the conventional techniques.

[0012] Therefore it is an object of the present invention to providestrong, durable steel poles for a rectangular dome-shaped tent that canbe installed safely even under a strong wind.

[0013] In achieving the above object, the steel pole for a tentaccording to the present invention consists of a plurality of unit rodsof certain length of a suitable diameter processed from an elastic steelplate.

[0014] One end portion of each of the unit rods is press-formed into asmall diameter portion (an insert part) so as to make it possible toinsert the small diameter portion into another unit rod, the smalldiameter portion having a proper length and a proper diameter for it tobe inserted into another unit rod.

[0015] The unit rods consist of straight rods and bent rods, the bentrod being bent at a certain angle to support a corner portion between atent ceiling and a tent wall.

[0016] A plurality of the unit rods, the straight rods and the bentrods, form one pole, and are arranged in a number and an order suitableto form an arched pole. A flexible, elastic string passes through thepipe holes of the arranged unit rods, the string being fixed by asuitable fixing means at both ends of the pole thus formed.

[0017] Thus the plurality of the unit rods constituting one pole areconnected by the string, and therefore, the unit rods do not fall offfrom the group, while the order of the arrangement of the unit rods ismaintained, thus offering convenience in handling of the poles.

[0018] Further, owing to the flexibility of the connecting string, eachof the poles (each consisting of a plurality of the unit rods) can beassembled into an arch-shaped pole or split and folded into smallerlengths, making it easy and convenient to carry and store the poles.

[0019] When installing the tent, two arched poles are installed on theground, the two poles crossing at the top portion, and a tent cloth iscovered on them. Then the supporting ropes, which extend from the fourcorners of the tent cloth, are fixed onto the ground by fixing pins.

[0020] The dome-shaped tent can be installed more conveniently than anA-shaped tent as it uses two poles. Furthermore, it receives lesspressure from the wind, and the interior space of the tent is relativelylarge.

[0021] In the above, explanation was made on the steel poles used for adome-shaped tent, but it is apparent that they can be applied to theother forms of tents as well.

[0022] The steel pole for a tent according to the present invention isalmost the same as a reinforced plastic pole in its weight, but it ismuch stronger in durability than the latter. In addition, the former hasa better elasticity, making it possible to pitch a tent as one desires.

[0023] Furthermore, owing to the high strength of the steel poles, thepole is strong against deformation, and therefore, the tent does notfall even against a strong wind. This stability of a pitched tent isessential to the usefulness of a tent.

[0024] Even after the repetitive use of the poles, assembling anddisassembling of the poles many times, the connecting portions of theunit rods are not loosened or broken as in the case of the conventionalaluminum or reinforced plastic poles, but the coupling strength of therods is maintained firmly.

[0025] Besides, the manufacturing cost of the steel poles is low, and ifthey are coated with various desirable colors, the poles look beautifulin harmony with the color of the tent. Therefore, people will certainlyprefer the tent of the present invention with an added advantage ofsafety and convenience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The above object and other advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detail the preferredembodiment of the present invention with reference to the attacheddrawings in which:

[0027]FIG. 1 illustrates the arched pole of the present invention inwhich a plurality of rods are connected with a string;

[0028]FIG. 2 is a partially sectional view illustrating how a unit rodis inserted into another in the present invention, in which the insertportion is formed integrally with the rod and inserted into another rod;

[0029]FIG. 3 is a side view of the tent of the present invention, inwhich the arch-shaped pole is secured on the ground;

[0030]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rectangular dome-shaped tentwith the arched poles of the present invention applied therein; and

[0031]FIG. 5 is a partially sectional view of the conventional pole,showing the insert portion of the connecting part.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0032] The pole of the rectangular dome-shaped tent according to thepresent invention is constituted in such a way that the pole consists ofa plurality of unit rods 1 which are pipes of a suitable diameter with acertain length and thickness made of an elastic steel plate. One endportion of the unit rod 1 is press-formed into a smaller diameterportion, i.e., an insert part 1 a, while the other end of the rod 1 hasan insert hollow 1 b for receiving the insert part 1 a of another rod 1,the insert part 1 a is formed integrally with the rod 1.

[0033] There are two types of unit rods--straight rods 1A; and bent rods1B. The bent rods have a bent portion c with an appropriate bent anangle (e.g., 120 degrees) to support the corner portions between thetent ceiling and the tent wall.

[0034] The straight rods 1A and the bent rods 1B are arranged in propernumbers and in a proper order suitable to form the arched poles A, B.Each set of the unit rods 1A, 1B are connected by inserting a connectingstring s through the hollows h of them, and both ends of the connectingstring s are fixed to the ends e and e of each of the poles A and B.

[0035]FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the arched pole A or B of thetent of the present invention as to how the straight rods 1A and bentrods 1B are connected. There are three straight rods 1A connected in themiddle portion of the arched pole A or B, and two bent rods 1B areconnected to both ends of these three straight rods 1A. Further, twostraight rods 1A are connected to both ends of the bent rods 1B, andthus, nine unit rods 1 form one pole.

[0036] However, the arched pole of the present invention is not limitedto the above described example, but the number of the unit rods can beincreased or decreased according to the composition of the pole, and thebent angle of the bent rods 1B can be varied to pitch a tent of variousforms.

[0037] Thus the pole of the present invention is formed by connecting aplurality of unit rods (the straight rods 1A and the bent rods 1B)together with a connecting string s passing through them. A pair of suchpoles A and B is used as a frame or a pole for pitching a dome-shapedtent 2 of the present invention.

[0038] When installing a dome-shaped tent, the insert part 1 a of therod 1 is inserted into the insert hollow 1 b of another rod 1, andrepeating this process for more rods as required, the arched poles A, Bare formed. Under this condition, the arched poles A and B are not asbent as they look when the tent is pitched.

[0039] Both ends of the arched poles A and B thus formed are put to theground, and then, the distance between both ends of the pole A or B arenarrowed so as to make the pole reach the desired curve. Thus the polesare put to a stable form, and as shown in FIG. 3, the straight rods 1Aunder the bent rod 1B form a post, while the straight rods 1A above thebent rods 1B form a curved frame for the ceiling of the tent.

[0040] These arched poles A and B are crossed in an X form when they areassembled, and a tent cloth is covered over the installed arched poles Aand B. Then ropes r which extend from the four corners of the tent clothare secured to the ground by using supporting pins p.

[0041] Thus as shown in FIG. 4, a rectangular dome-shaped tent 2 isinstalled with the two arched poles A and B. Of course, when installingother forms of tents, the same procedure is taken to install them.

[0042] The tent pole of the present invention consists of a plurality ofelastic steel pipe rods, and therefore, it is easy to curve the polesinto an arch form after assembling the rods into poles. Furthermore,once installed, the arched poles are not deformed or broken by the forceof even a strong wind, and support the tent firmly.

[0043] The number of the straight rods 1A and the number of the bentrods 1B are decided by the length and the shape of the assembled polesdepending upon the interior space of the tent.

[0044] Also, the larger the angle of the bent portion c of the bent rod1B is, the steeper the slope of the ceiling of the tent becomes. On theother hand, the smaller the angle of the bent portion c of the bent rod1B is, the less steep the ceiling of the tent becomes.

[0045] The assembling, disassembling, carrying, and handling of thepoles of the present invention can be done in the same way as in thecase of ordinary tents, but in the present invention, as the insert partis integral with the rod, even with the repetitive use of the rods,assembling and disassembling, the insert part is not broken, therebymaintaining the coupling strength even with a repetitive use. Therefore,the poles are durable and highly stable and useful.

[0046] According to the present invention as described above, the tentpole consists of a plurality of unit rods which are made of elasticsteel pipes, the insert part is formed integrally with the rod, andtherefore, the rods and the insert parts are strong, with the resultthat the poles, with strong supporting strength and durability, are notdeflected or deformed or broken even by a strong wind. Consequently, thetent is firmly supported and will not fall down even under a strongwind.

[0047] Furthermore, the poles can be folded into shorter lengths, sothat they can be carried and stored in an easy and convenient manner.Further, even with a repetitive use of the poles, assembling anddisassembling, the strong connecting parts of the unit rods will not beloosened, deformed, or fall apart as in the case of other conventionalrods.

[0048] Furthermore, with their strong durability of the poles, they canbe used for a long time. Besides, the poles of the present invention areadvantageous to use, as they are economical in view of theirmanufacturing cost as compared with the conventional reinforced plasticor aluminum poles, and are convenient to use.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rectangular dome-shaped steel pole for a tent,comprising: a plurality of unit rods 1 made of an elastic steel pipewith thickness and diameter suitable for a tent pole; one end portion ofeach of the unit rods being press-formed into an insert part 1 a forinserting into an insert hollow 1 b of another unit rod 1, said insertpart la being formed as an integral part of the unit rod 1; said unitrods consisting of straight rods 1A and bent rods 1B, the bent rods 1Bhaving a bent portion c suitable for supporting the portions between thetent ceiling and the tent walls; said straight rods 1A and bent rods 1Bare arranged in numbers and in an order suitable for poles A, B forsupporting a tent, a flexible string s passing through the arrangedstraight rods 1A and bent rods 1B; and two arched poles A and B beinginstalled on the ground with the top portion of the arched polescrossing in an X-shaped form for pitching a dome-shaped tent
 2. 2. Thesteel pole as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insert part 1 a ispress-formed so that the unit rod 1 and the insert part 1 a areintegrally formed; the insert part 1 a has a thickness and length and anouter diameter suitable for being inserted into the inner diameter ofthe insert hollow 1 b of another rod 1; and the unit rods 1A, 1B aredisassembled from or assembled with one another through the insertportion 1 a and the insert hollow 1 b.
 3. The steel pole as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the bent rods 1B of the arched poles A and B have bentrods 1B with a bent portion c with a bent angle suitable for supportingthe corner portions between the tent ceiling and the tent walls.
 4. Thesteel pole as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ends of the connectingstring s are fixed to both ends e, e of each of the arched poles A andB; and the connecting string s has a sufficient flexibility andelasticity for assembling the connected rods 1A, 1B into an arch-shapedpole or for disassembling and folding.